Singapore COC Status Help

[easilystressed]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the middle of my process to get a Certificate of Clearance from Singapore and need help understanding the status. I am an overseas applicant, non Singaporean + non permanent resident.

Here is my process timeline

23rd March - Appeal was approved
27th March - Fingerprints delivered to Singapore

Before my fingerprints were delivered, the status said "accepted, fingerprints pending"
Since the fingerprints were delivered, all is says is "approved"

I have received no confirmation email for anything. No confirmation of them receiving my fingerprints, no confirmation of them dispatching the certificate.

What exactly does "approved" mean and what stage of this process am I in? How much longer does it take from here?

 

[Wahid7007]

If it says approved it means your COC application has been approved and certificate printed but you should have received a confirmation email. However, it seems way too fast. My wife's COC took 20days to be approved after receiving the fingerprints. Anyways i suggest you email them. They are usually quick to respond.

 

[smrmeo]

Hi everyone,

I'm in the middle of my process to get a Certificate of Clearance from Singapore and need help understanding the status. I am an overseas applicant, non Singaporean + non permanent resident.

Here is my process timeline

23rd March - Appeal was approved
27th March - Fingerprints delivered to Singapore

Before my fingerprints were delivered, the status said "accepted, fingerprints pending"
Since the fingerprints were delivered, all is says is "approved"

I have received no confirmation email for anything. No confirmation of them receiving my fingerprints, no confirmation of them dispatching the certificate.

What exactly does "approved" mean and what stage of this process am I in? How much longer does it take from here?

How long did it take you from the appeal submission to appeal approval?

 

[vakulg]

Hope this helps clarifies your doubts :

1) Receive ITA. Complete the ITA profile to obtain your customized document checklist for your PR application
2) Save the ITA letter and personal checklist as a pdf file. Note that ideally the checklist would show that you require a Singapore Police Certificate
3) Go to https://eservices.police.gov.sg/content/policehubhome/homepage/certificate-of-clearance-hub.html
4) Since I am not in Singapore and I am not a Singaporean citizen, I selected the "Appeal by Non-Citizen to apply for COC" and "Login with FIN" options
5) Make sure you have your old NRIC number. It's the identification number they assigned to you on your Work/Student Pass.
6) Complete the appeal form, upload a photo, submit any supporting documentation they ask for (Front and back of your card as jpg, ITA letter as pdf, etc. etc.). Submit
7) Wait for an e-mail to tell you your appeal has been approved (3-5 business days). The e-mail will have the Appeal number on it and a Fingerprinting Form. You will need this (it looks like APP/00000000/0000
8) Go back to the website/click on the link in the e-mail and select the "Apply for Certificate of Clearance" and "Login via FIN" options
9) Complete the form again and pay the fee with any major credit card.
10) Wait for an e-mail to tell you your application was accepted. They will give you your application reference number (#00000000) and tell you where to submit your physical fingerprints along with a Payment Receipt. You will need to mail in both fingerprints and the receipt to the provided address.
11) Go and get your fingerprinting done at a legitimate place
12) Mail in all required documents to the provided address (I recommend courier or other mailing service with tracking numbers)
13) Wait for the decision and final COC in your mail (They use snail mail and not courier services) - Would recommend to get it delivered to a local address

My timeline with regards to SG COC:
- Oct 12/2023 : obtain ITA
- Oct 15/2023: submit an appeal for Singapore COC as a non-citizen & non-pr
- Oct 21/2023 : receive appeal approval
- Oct 22/2023: applied for COC and made payment
- Oct 23/2023: obtained e-mail confirmation and payment receipt
- Oct 25/2023 : obtained fingerprints and mailed to Singapore
- Nov 15/2023 : confirmation of completeness of documentation from Singapore
- Nov 17/2023 : confirmation of mailing of COC - gave my friend's local sg address

 

[Justmeee]

Just another suggestion : If you have friends in Singapore, you can add them as Proxy and ask them to collect the COC for you. They can then scan and send you the electronic copy. You can use this to load into the system

 

[easilystressed]

How long did it take you from the appeal submission to appeal approval?

Submitted Appeal: 22 March 2023
Appeal Approved: 23 March 2023
Receipt of Approval Email: 24 March 2023
Fingerprints Submitted: 27 March 2023

I have not heard back since even though the status on the COC website says "Approved".

 

[easilystressed]

Hope this helps clarifies your doubts :

1) Receive ITA. Complete the ITA profile to obtain your customized document checklist for your PR application
2) Save the ITA letter and personal checklist as a pdf file. Note that ideally the checklist would show that you require a Singapore Police Certificate
3) Go to https://eservices.police.gov.sg/content/policehubhome/homepage/certificate-of-clearance-hub.html
4) Since I am not in Singapore and I am not a Singaporean citizen, I selected the "Appeal by Non-Citizen to apply for COC" and "Login with FIN" options
5) Make sure you have your old NRIC number. It's the identification number they assigned to you on your Work/Student Pass.
6) Complete the appeal form, upload a photo, submit any supporting documentation they ask for (Front and back of your card as jpg, ITA letter as pdf, etc. etc.). Submit
7) Wait for an e-mail to tell you your appeal has been approved (3-5 business days). The e-mail will have the Appeal number on it and a Fingerprinting Form. You will need this (it looks like APP/00000000/0000
8) Go back to the website/click on the link in the e-mail and select the "Apply for Certificate of Clearance" and "Login via FIN" options
9) Complete the form again and pay the fee with any major credit card.
10) Wait for an e-mail to tell you your application was accepted. They will give you your application reference number (#00000000) and tell you where to submit your physical fingerprints along with a Payment Receipt. You will need to mail in both fingerprints and the receipt to the provided address.
11) Go and get your fingerprinting done at a legitimate place
12) Mail in all required documents to the provided address (I recommend courier or other mailing service with tracking numbers)
13) Wait for the decision and final COC in your mail (They use snail mail and not courier services) - Would recommend to get it delivered to a local address

My timeline with regards to SG COC:
- Oct 12/2023 : obtain ITA
- Oct 15/2023: submit an appeal for Singapore COC as a non-citizen & non-pr
- Oct 21/2023 : receive appeal approval
- Oct 22/2023: applied for COC and made payment
- Oct 23/2023: obtained e-mail confirmation and payment receipt
- Oct 25/2023 : obtained fingerprints and mailed to Singapore
- Nov 15/2023 : confirmation of completeness of documentation from Singapore
- Nov 17/2023 : confirmation of mailing of COC - gave my friend's local sg address

This is super helpful, thank you so much. I used a courier service with tracking and it was delivered on the 27th of March 2023. I think I'm stressed because I've received zero communication and confirmation from the COC office since submitting the fingerprints.

Did you receive any email after submitting the fingerprints or did you directly get an email saying that your documentation is complete?

Did you happen to check your status on the COC status link? Mine just says 'Approved' and I've heard nothing from them and they're not responding to calls or emails.

 

[abroad73]

This is super helpful, thank you so much. I used a courier service with tracking and it was delivered on the 27th of March 2023. I think I'm stressed because I've received zero communication and confirmation from the COC office since submitting the fingerprints.

Did you receive any email after submitting the fingerprints or did you directly get an email saying that your documentation is complete?

Did you happen to check your status on the COC status link? Mine just says 'Approved' and I've heard nothing from them and they're not responding to calls or emails.

Hi,

Did your status changed since? I'm in the same boat, it's 'Approved' since 11th of April and nothing since, no email, no change to 'Issued'.

Dates (all dates are in 2023):
9th March - Got letter from IRCC (dated 17th Nov 2022)
9th March - Appeal
10th March - Appeal successful
10th March - Apply for CoC
11th March - Request for fingerprint
11th March - fingerprint done and sent to Singapore via DHL.
20th March - fingerprint delivered via DHL to SPF in Singapore
30th March - In progress status on SPF website
10th April - Sent email to SPF to ask for information (they replied on 18th April saying it's approved and will be sent via mail)
11th April - Approved

I sent an email on 24th April to ask why it's not yet 'Issued', and I haven't heard back from them yet.

 

[easilystressed]

Hi,

Did your status changed since? I'm in the same boat, it's 'Approved' since 11th of April and nothing since, no email, no change to 'Issued'.

Dates (all dates are in 2023):
9th March - Got letter from IRCC (dated 17th Nov 2022)
9th March - Appeal
10th March - Appeal successful
10th March - Apply for CoC
11th March - Request for fingerprint
11th March - fingerprint done and sent to Singapore via DHL.
20th March - fingerprint delivered via DHL to SPF in Singapore
30th March - In progress status on SPF website
10th April - Sent email to SPF to ask for information (they replied on 18th April saying it's approved and will be sent via mail)
11th April - Approved

I sent an email on 24th April to ask why it's not yet 'Issued', and I haven't heard back from them yet.

I finally got my COC! They hadn't dispatched it yet, so I asked a friend to go collect it. I had initially put in a local address while filing my application because I didn't anticipate this process to take so long. I wrote an authorisation letter, my friend showed it to the SPF officer, and they handed it over:

Here's my final timeline. Good luck, I hope you get yours soon.

Multiple attempts to submit appeal, website kept showing 403 error and was unable to send it: 16 March 2023 - 22 March 2023
Submitted Appeal: 22 March 2023
Appeal Approved: 23 March 2023
Receipt of Appeal Approval Email: 24 March 2023
Fingerprints Submitted: 27 March 2023
Follow Up Emails to COC requesting to Confirm Application Status: 3rd, 5th, 10th April 2023
Response from COC confirming they received my fingerprints and the status is 'In Progress': 12 April 2023
Follow Up Email (informed them that I'm approaching my submission deadline): 26th April 2023
Application Approved: 27 April 2023
Confirmation Email of Approval: 27 April 2023
Collection by proxy: 2 May 2023

 

[abroad73]

I finally got my COC! They hadn't dispatched it yet, so I asked a friend to go collect it. I had initially put in a local address while filing my application because I didn't anticipate this process to take so long. I wrote an authorisation letter, my friend showed it to the SPF officer, and they handed it over:

Here's my final timeline. Good luck, I hope you get yours soon.

Multiple attempts to submit appeal, website kept showing 403 error and was unable to send it: 16 March 2023 - 22 March 2023
Submitted Appeal: 22 March 2023
Appeal Approved: 23 March 2023
Receipt of Appeal Approval Email: 24 March 2023
Fingerprints Submitted: 27 March 2023
Follow Up Emails to COC requesting to Confirm Application Status: 3rd, 5th, 10th April 2023
Response from COC confirming they received my fingerprints and the status is 'In Progress': 12 April 2023
Follow Up Email (informed them that I'm approaching my submission deadline): 26th April 2023
Application Approved: 27 April 2023
Confirmation Email of Approval: 27 April 2023
Collection by proxy: 2 May 2023

Thanks for your details ;-) I just received it today! Yay!

It was sent by Singapore on 19th of April but I never got any email to let me know it was shipped and the status is still `Approved`.
They answered my email and told me it was sent and gave the tracking number. I could not use the tracking number on Canada post website, it would just tell me it's not found.

So here are the final dates:
9th March - Got letter from IRCC (dated 17th Nov 2022)
9th March - Appeal
10th March - Appeal successful
10th March - Apply for CoC
11th March - Request for fingerprint
11th March - fingerprint done and sent to Singapore via DHL. Expected arrival 17th March
20th March - fingerprint delivered via DHL to SPF in Singapore
30th March - In progress status on SPF website
10th April - Sent email to SPF to ask for information
11th April - Approved
? Issued ? - Never received any email. Had to sent email to SG Police Force to ask
19th April - Shipped - Item Received at Post Office (BUKIT BATOK CENTRAL POST OFFICE)\
20th April - Dispatched to overseas (Country code: CA)
23th April - Arrival at Destination Post (Country: CA)
04th May - Delivered to my address

Good luck to anyone doing that process in the future

 

[arnabmukherjee]

Thanks for your details ;-) I just received it today! Yay!

It was sent by Singapore on 19th of April but I never got any email to let me know it was shipped and the status is still `Approved`.
They answered my email and told me it was sent and gave the tracking number. I could not use the tracking number on Canada post website, it would just tell me it's not found.

So here are the final dates:
9th March - Got letter from IRCC (dated 17th Nov 2022)
9th March - Appeal
10th March - Appeal successful
10th March - Apply for CoC
11th March - Request for fingerprint
11th March - fingerprint done and sent to Singapore via DHL. Expected arrival 17th March
20th March - fingerprint delivered via DHL to SPF in Singapore
30th March - In progress status on SPF website
10th April - Sent email to SPF to ask for information
11th April - Approved
? Issued ? - Never received any email. Had to sent email to SG Police Force to ask
19th April - Shipped - Item Received at Post Office (BUKIT BATOK CENTRAL POST OFFICE)\
20th April - Dispatched to overseas (Country code: CA)
23th April - Arrival at Destination Post (Country: CA)
04th May - Delivered to my address

Good luck to anyone doing that process in the future

Hi,

Your timelines are extremely helpful to understand the case.
However, can you please elaborate on how you received the tracking number post the status was changed to "Issued" in the portal?
Did you call the SPF on the telephone number provided in their site or emailed them? If email, what was the id that you used?
Any other means like you received any automated email from Sing Post providing the tracking id?

Thanks,
Arnab

 

[easilystressed]

Hi,

Your timelines are extremely helpful to understand the case.
However, can you please elaborate on how you received the tracking number post the status was changed to "Issued" in the portal?
Did you call the SPF on the telephone number provided in their site or emailed them? If email, what was the id that you used?
Any other means like you received any automated email from Sing Post providing the tracking id?

Thanks,
Arnab

Hi Arnab,

Not sure about the other poster but in case you need more info, here's how it went for me.

I received an automated email confirming that my application was approved on the 27th of April and that the report will be dispatched in 2 working days. The email had no tracking number. I tried calling the COC office number multiple times to ask about the tracking link but the phone was either constantly engaged/no one would pick up. I didn't bother sending an email because from my experience with them, they take an average of 5-7 working days to respond.

On the 2nd of May, I asked a friend in Singapore to go to the COC office and inquire on my behalf. Turns out they hadn't dispatched it yet due to a public holiday and a long weekend. I gave an authorisation email to my friend approving collection by proxy and they handed it over to him (my initial method was to have it delivered to my friend in SG).

Hope this helps.

 

[abroad73]

Hi,

Your timelines are extremely helpful to understand the case.
However, can you please elaborate on how you received the tracking number post the status was changed to "Issued" in the portal?
Did you call the SPF on the telephone number provided in their site or emailed them? If email, what was the id that you used?
Any other means like you received any automated email from Sing Post providing the tracking id?

Thanks,
Arnab

Hi Arnab,

On my end, the status never changed to Issued in the portal. So I sent an email to follow up with SPF after some time and they told me it was actually issued and they sent me the tracking number in that email. I've been using this email SPF_COC_Office@spf.gov.sg.

I think the normal process is to receive an automatic email from them when they issue the certificate, which I never received.

Hope this helps, good luck!

 

[Raulf]

Latest update on Singapore COC Processing Time : May 2023.

Appeal by non-Singaporean Citizens to apply for COC : 5-10 working days ( although website is mentioning 5 days turn around time ). Once you get this approved, then only you(non-Singaporean Citizens) can proceed to apply for COC. So please plan your activities accordingly and expect delays.

 

[Raulf]

Hi Arnab,

On my end, the status never changed to Issued in the portal. So I sent an email to follow up with SPF after some time and they told me it was actually issued and they sent me the tracking number in that email. I've been using this email SPF_COC_Office@spf.gov.sg.

I think the normal process is to receive an automatic email from them when they issue the certificate, which I never received.

Hope this helps, good luck!

May I check when did you submit your appeal? Appreciate if you can provide your time line here.